Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-12-25

lust this--that by 1t the arti5t was Una
bIed to reach the people through the
printing press. =.
No artist had ever before dreamed OF
possessing such power, such broad fields
OF influence aud popularity as Durers
art now placed in bis grasp. Fora hum
bred years the art was mighty weapon
for good in the wofld.
instantly upon its invention by Durer
a large number of artists seized on 1t rs
a means of direct communication with
the people. Those who have not seen
the works OF such men have no idea
what they we're. The wood-cut pictures
of Durer, Burgmair, Schauflelin, Ora
nae, Baldung-Grun, and other eminent
/ artists are well known to collectors. Few
/ except collectors ever see them. Modern
artists are not acquainted with them as
/ they should be. They are of all sizes.
I The "Trimnphal Arch, >" by Durer, con-
/ ssis of large number OF prints on
separate sheets, which, when brought
together, make q wood print as large
as the end OF a small room. The
Triumph" by Burgmair, IN like mau-
ner on different blocks, would require so
long q space to hold tie print when
/ brought together, that probably no one
has ever attempted it. II is known only
/ in a large oblong volume. The " Raising
Of lazarus" and "1he Last Supper"
both by Schaufelin, Sare prints three
feet four inches long by nearly two feet
six inches high. The products of the
art, from such grand works, down to the
smallest pictures by Hans Sebald Beham,
and Hans LutzelOurger. and those at
tributed TO Holbein, are not alone beau
tifu works, and great works, but they
are Of inestimable value because they
are. each and every one, the work OF
renowned artist his own work, printed
from the lines of his own pencil IN his
own hand.
The form-schneider had now become
what we call woodengraver, although
in Germany he retained his ancient
name. The process in the art vas sim
pie. The artist drew his picture on the
fat surface of the block. The en-
gravers business was to cut away every
particle of the wood which the artists
pencil had not touched. The engrayer
never left line of bis own. That
would be tampering with the artists
work. What value docs any one place
on a work of Durer, translated into
black print by q drawing OF some one
else? There are plenty OF such prints,
made "after Durer," which are OF no
account in comparison with an original
by Durer
Thus it was that by the art Of wood en-
D ,rA- - IN fnA
printing press 70 disseminate their own
IDEAS. precisely as authors usedit for their
pamphlets and books. And a picture Is
written language always, as verify as IS
; printed page.
In our day wood-engraving, as we
know it in connection with the great
artists OF the sixteenth century, seems
/ to be a lost art The new art, now
called wood-engraying, has sprung from
the ambition, laudable, indeed, Of the
form schneider of old time to be an
artist. lie has sought TO do on wood
with the ordinary printing press what
the copper-plate engrayer does on copper
and steel produce copies OF the
works Of artists His pictures are his
own drawings, not those OF the
artist His work is exquisite in ex-
ecution, his skill wonderful a new
I style of picture in magazines and news
papers and books is the result Someoi
these When proof impressions are taken
by hand with great care and proper dis
tribution of pressure, have considerable
resemblance TO the best India-ink work
by artists The misfortune OF the new
art is that printers ink and printing
presses will hardly ever produce two I'M
presaons OF the same block exactly
alike, and will not give effect to what we
call "color," even IN black PRINT.
Hence the mOnotonous effect Of so many
modern wood-engravings. But DO not
write to discuss the merit Of the modern
art or its products My purpose IS only
to direct attention to the fact that great
artists no longer use the pTinting-press
as their means OF reaching the
people. They are content to be trans
lated into the productions OF the en-
graver's art. With the utmost cOnsid-
Grafton for this new art and its powers,
it is undeniable that its TRANSACTIONS are
sometimes fearful libels on the original
artists. Not long ago a friend lald on
my table proof impression OF modern
wood engraving presented to blm for
what 1t was-a specimen Of the highest
attainments in the modern ant. When
his back was turned | laid sheet of
paper over the middle, leaving top and
bottom exposed. Then | called his
attention to the work in the visible upper
part. asking him what il represented.
He said "clouds and sky pretty well
done. too" took off the paper and he
saw that the print was turned upside
down. and bis clouds pretty well done
were in truth the foreground Of the pic
ture-a grass covered meadow through
which wound path.
. It is possible, | ain not able to Affirm
it, that artists can no longer find form
schneiders OF skill who will do the SER
vile work OF following the lines drawn on
the wood. If so, then the old art Is lost,
and the loss to the world is inesumable.
In every artists studio are more or less
OF his sketches. done IN pencil, in line
work. Sometimes they are in pen and
ink These sketches, as ali students and
lovers of art know, are IN great measure
the very bone and muscle, the anatomy
of beautiful works in color. They are
full of instruction and value. Every line
is valuable. and the addition Of one line
would destroy the purity and originality
of the work Once, if the artist made such
sketches on wood, they were reproduced
by printing and the world Of art was en-
rfched. IL is so no longer. Pretty
much all that We know OF our great ar
lists now, nearly all the instruction we
receive from them, is 10y their paintings,
most Of which go into private houses.
and by TRANSACTIONS, always feeble, often
false. Those artists who consent to draw
on wood, many Of them men of power,
seem content TO be translated. Now
aud then in a mas azine or book some
little cut evidently engraved on the
lines oil the artist, shines out with won
derlul brilliance, and people wonder
why that small cut with its few lines 50
impresses them. II is because these are
the last glimmerings of the art which
was the illumination-fa more than
paintipQ or sculpture-of Europe in the